Monday, May 28, 2012

Whether shooting for the Travel Channel in Budapest, co-starring in a pilot called The Smart One with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, winning a World Championship Wrestling belt, or becoming L.A.’s latest nightlife impresario, David Arquette always goes back to his roots. “I’m a fourth-generation actor, but my family started in vaudeville,” he says. And he’s mining those family ties for the name of his new club, set to open in the former Trousdale space on Sunset Boulevard this summer: “My mother was a cheesecake pinup model doing burlesque. Her stage name, Bootsy’s Bellows, will be the name,” he says. Together with his partners, John Terzian and Brian Toll of h.wood and VIP hosting veteran Deborah Maguire, Arquette promises a “true dance club,” drawing inspiration from venues such as Budapest’s Smack and Crack and others in New York, Miami and Chicago. Inside the space, tables surround a stage positioned in the middle for electronic DJs and impromptu shows from live musicians and costumed performers.

Arquette says he’ll “definitely be singing and dancing around, making a fool of myself,” adding, “I get very involved and passionate about what we have put together with the costumes and visuals and come up with ideas on how to convey the creative experience.” If that’s not enough of a draw, back doors lead to what Arquette has tentatively dubbed the Ivory Bar. Here he’ll offer “more old-school sounds,” from hip-hop and soul funk to current beats, but the space will still focus on performances with a piano and staging. “It’s our version of a Las Vegas nightclub,” he says.